Cabin Fever
by TheFlamesAreGettingHigher
Summary: AU where Scott and Stiles are just out of high school, and they decided to become junior counselors at a summer camp to have something to do before going away to university. Allison broke up with Scott following graduation, and now both are single and away from home for the first time.
1. Introduction

"Yo, Stiles, do you have a minute?"

Stiles looked up from his book at his best friend in the world. Scott stood in his cabin's doorway wearing the same green camp t-shirt as Stiles and his signature easy smile. "Yeah man, what's up?"

"One of my campers left his inhaler in the woods. Can you get away for a second to help me look?" Scott responded.

"Yep, my co-counselor is watching the kids anyway." It was only day 2, but Stiles was already loving daily nap time. He shut his book and followed Scott out the doorway.

It was a beautiful summer day, and all of the campers were in their cabins asleep. Not a cloud was in the sky, the birds were chirping, and Stiles didn't realize how lucky he was to have picked this camp. Northern California wasn't too different from Beacon Hills in the southern half of the state, but it was still a nice change of scenery.

"Man, this camp is the best. Have you had the juice boxes in the dining hall yet? They're so big!" said Stiles.

"Nah, I haven't tried them yet," replied Scott, frowning.

"Hey! What's up? We're in the freaking woods at a camp miles away from home! You can't still be thinking about Allison, can you?"

Scott's frown remained. "I mean, it's not like I had much warning."

"You knew she had been talking about splitting up after graduation. You aren't even going to the same school in the fall anyway."

"Yeah, but…" Scott trailed off.

Stiles sighed, "Alright, where are we going anyway?"

Scott lead Stiles down one of the paths his cabin had been down that morning. "It should be somewhere around here, I think," he said as he stopped and bent down.

"Are you sure? I don't see it anywhere around."

"I could have sworn this was it."

Scott continued looking through the grass while Stiles sighed again. Stiles stood in place and looked up and around the path they were on until he jumped. There, twenty feet away, was a large man in a gray camp t-shirt. Stiles immediately tapped Scott on the shoulder, urging him to get up. Scott took one look up, had the same jump, and got to his feet as quickly as he could. The man in the gray t-shirt began approaching.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

Scott was dazed, but Stiles couldn't help thinking 'Oh God, he's hot. Oh God, he's hot. Why didn't I brush my teeth before I came out here? How did I sweat so much walking in the woods? Oh God.'

"Huh?" the man prompted, snapping Stiles out of it. "You're supposed to be watching your kids."

'Words! Words!' Stiles's brain screamed. Scott was being useless, and Stiles had to act fast if he wanted a shot with this guy.

"Uhh, sorry man, we didn't know," came out of Stiles's mouth.

"Yeah, we were just looking for something," assured Scott.

The man's eyebrows went up.

"But, forget it," said Scott in a defeated tone.

Derek stood there for a second, watching Scott. Then, he pulled an inhaler out of his pocket and tossed it to him.

"Don't let me catch you two out of your cabins during nap time again," the man said as he left down the path.

Scott and Stiles were stunned for a moment, but Scott eventually said, "Alright man, let's get to work," in the same defeated tone.

"Dude! No! You can't just mope around here all summer. One of the best parts of leaving is moving on from whatever you're leaving. Don't you get that?"

Scott sighed, "At least we found the inhaler."

Still looking in the direction of the strange man, Stiles responded, "Yeah, we found something..."


	2. Week 1

"Dude, you were right! These juice boxes are huge!"

Stiles turned to see Scott sitting down at his table in the dining hall. Scott had grabbed two juice boxes with his breakfast.

"Yeah, they're awesome! And the oatmeal's not too bad either," Stiles replied.

"Hey guys," said a sandy haired boy about who looked about their age as he sat down next to Stiles.

"Hey man!" replied Stiles, turning to Scott. "Scott, this is Isaac, my co-counselor for the summer."

Scott stopped sipping on his juice. "Hey, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," provided Isaac with a smile.

"You know, if you're going to be spending the summer with Stiles, you should know that he has a tendency to talk in his sleep."

"Hey!" said Stiles, "I hardly ever do that anymore."

Isaac laughed, making Stiles turn.

"Then why did I hear all about a 'stupid gray shirt' last night?" asked Isaac.

Scott tapped Stiles on the shoulder, saying, "Dude are you still upset about that?"

"Hey, he was really mean to us yesterday. I wish we knew who he was so we could do something about it."

"What do you mean," Isaac chimed in.

"Scott and I went looking for one of his camper's inhalers yesterday in the woods, and some other counselor was being a total dick about us not being in the cabins," replied Stiles.

"There he is now!" urged Scott in a hushed tone.

Scott, Stiles, and Isaac all turned to the back of the dining hall, where the man in the gray shirt stood talking to Laura Hale, the head of the junior counselor program. 'Damn,' thought Stiles. 'He even looks good in the morning.'

Isaac gasped, "you got caught by Derek Hale?"

Stiles furled his eyebrows. "Who's Derek Hale?"

"He's Laura's brother," Isaac responded. "He's one of the head counselors of the camp, and he's way above us."

"Wait," stalled Scott, "they're related? But Laura was so nice to us at orientation!"

"I guess personality doesn't run in the family," said Stiles.

"Yeah, this is actually a family run camp," replied Isaac, "Their uncle Peter owns the whole place. I hear he's looking to promote one of them to run the whole camp next year."

"Well, maybe Laura will get it," continued Scott.

Stiles just shrugged and went back to his breakfast.

Later that day, Stiles was running his session of arts and crafts. He had just finished showing a camper how to make a friendship bracelet, and he had started on the next camper when he looked up. Derek was there above him looking down at Stiles and his camper's unfinished friendship bracelet.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked.

"We're just making friendship bracelets today."

Derek grunted, "You're supposed to be learning knots today."

Stiles was taken aback and immediately turned to his camper, "Do you think you could take this by yourself, champ?"

"Yeah," said the child.

Getting the green light, Stiles stood and beckoned for Derek to move with him away from the working children. Derek remained where he was, so Stiles took the initiative to walk in the direction he had been motioning to. When he was far enough away from the kids, he turned to see Derek standing right beside and uncomfortably close to him.

Derek repeated himself, "You're supposed to be learning knots today."

"They didn't really want to do that, and there are still plenty of knots involved in friendship bracelets. Why is it such a big deal?"

Derek's eyebrows furled. "Their parents thought they would be learning about knots."

"They are learning about knots, but they're having more fun this way," Stiles threw back.

Derek stared at Stiles, and Stiles stared back, their faces right in front of one another.

"Fine," relented Derek. He exited the arts and crafts area.

Stiles let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding in. 'Wow, we were so close there. Still, what a dick though.'

And he went back to teaching his campers about friendship bracelets.

Thursday nights at camp marked the last night, as campers were picked up by their parents on Friday mornings. This meant the closing campfire. By the end of the night, Scott and Stiles were sitting on the same log looking back on their first week of camp.

"You know, I really think I could make crafts more fun if Derek weren't being so grumpy about it," said Stiles.

"You know, I bet I could avoid the archery field entirely if I made my campers walk around the woods instead of through them."

Stiles's _Scott has a bad idea_ alert snapped him out of thinking about Derek.

"Scott, you can't take your campers around the woods. That would take you hours. You need to stop thinking about Allison every chance you get."

Scott slouched and turned. "But I have to walk past the archery field every single day! How am I supposed to not think of the award winning archer who dumped me?"

Stiles put his arm around Scott to comfort him. "I know you're going through a rough patch right now, and I know you aren't having an easy time forgetting. Still, you have to. Look, we're at camp for the summer! You get paid to have fun here! You need to realize that in order to be happy you need to let yourself be happy!"

Scott stayed silent, and Stiles pulled him in closer. "Who knows what might happen if you let yourself be open to it?"

Scott sighed, "yeah, you're probably right."

"Scott, I'm always right about these things, and I have a feeling you'll find something even better than Allison really soon."

Just then, Isaac came by and sat himself next to Stiles. "Hey guys, what are your plans for our weekend off?"

"Oh hey, Isaac," replied Scott, "I think we're just supposed to stay at camp on the weekends, no leaving."

"Yeah, but it's supposed to rain this weekend! There will be nothing to do," said Isaac. "I think we should sneak off camp grounds and see a movie at the nearest town."

"I don't know," said Scott glumly.

"Yes," replied Stiles.

Scott suddenly sat up. "Really? What if we get caught?"

"Remember, Scott? We have to let ourselves be happy if we want to be happy." Stiles turned to Isaac. "We're definitely in."

Isaac smiled, showing all of his teeth. "Sweet!"


	3. Weekend 1

Stiles was sitting alone in the arts and crafts area. Camp was quiet, except for the birds. He was almost finished with his fifth friendship bracelet for the day, and his speed was picking up. His technique was getting better. Soon Derek would have to let him teach friendship bracelets. He wove, and he wove. His craftsmanship was excellent. He may have been the best friendship bracelet maker to have ever lived.

"What's that?" said a familiar voice behind him.

Stiles turned to see Derek standing behind him, shirtless. His abs looked like they had been chiseled out of stone, and his face was the same stern scowl it always was. Stiles stood.

"It's a friendship bracelet, if you must know," said Stiles.

"Again?" replied Derek. "I thought I said no more of those?"

Stiles rebutted, "You know, I don't think you really get friendship bracelets. Maybe if you were more friendly, you would understand."

Derek came closer. Stiles caught his breath.

"Do I not look friendly to you?" he asked.

Derek stopped right in front of Stiles. Their faces were inches apart. Stiles was still holding his breath, and before he could say anything, Derek began again.

"Why don't I show you how friendly I can be?"

Derek leaned in, opened his lips, and Scott's voice said, "Stiles, wake up!"

Stiles awoke abruptly.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Uh, it's almost three," replied Scott, rain dripping down his hair and onto Stiles's face. "Where's Isaac?"

Stiles sat up in his bed as Scott backed away. He looked around his cabin he was sharing with Isaac for the summer, then at Scott as he sat on Isaac's bed. He remembered.

"He said he would be back around 3. Then, we have to leave if we want to catch the movie."

"Okay," Scott affirmed. He laid himself down on Isaac's bed and stretched out.

Stiles was still processing what he thought he had been dreaming when Isaac actually walked in five minutes later soaking wet. He first looked at Stiles, then turned to see Scott asleep on his bed. Then he looked at Stiles again with an eyebrow raised.

"Uh," stuttered Stiles, "Yeah… Scott!"

Scott started up. "I'm awake! Sorry I was on your bed, Isaac." Scott began to stand.

"No, dude, don't worry about it," Isaac assured him.

"Really?" asked Scott. "Your pillow is soaked now."

"Yeah, it's fine," Isaac brushed off with a wave. "But we should hurry now if we want to get out while there's too much rain for anyone to notice we're missing."

'Isaac is going to regret that when we get back. Scott has a ton of hair on his head. That pillow will be wet until Tuesday,' Stiles thought. "Then let's go!"

"Sweet! My car is just outside!" replied Isaac. The boys got up and ran to the car, attempting to dodge most of the rain.

As Scott, Stiles, and Isaac bought their tickets for the movie, the rain began to lessen.

"Are you sure no one is going to notice that we're off campgrounds?" asked Scott. "I mean, we're a town away."

"Yeah," assured Isaac. "I'm sure it'll be fine as long as they didn't see us drive away."

Stiles was slightly worried, but not too much. Then, he looked at his watch. "Hey guys, the movie looks like it's starting really soon. I'll go grab seats if you get popcorn."

"Sounds good," replied Scott.

"Oh man," said Isaac. "I actually only brought enough for the movie. I didn't even think of popcorn."

Scott put a hand on Isaac's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I've got you."

Isaac smiled and said thank you as Stiles turned to find their screening room. When Stiles looked back, Scott was at the register, and it looked like Isaac was blushing. Stiles didn't think much of it and went to see where the movie was playing.

Scott and Isaac found Stiles at their seats two minutes into the preview. The theater was mostly empty, which surprised Stiles. Still, he wasn't complaining. Scott sat down next to him, and Isaac sat on his other side.

"Did we miss anything?" asked Isaac.

"Nah, just previews so far," replied Stiles. "This one looks good though. We should see it when it comes out at the end of the summer."

"Yeah, maybe," offered Scott. "Want popcorn?"

An hour or so into the movie, the popcorn ran out, so Stiles ran to get some more. 'Free refills here I come,' he thought. He approached the lady at the register and asked for his refill. By the time he got back, only three or four minutes had elapsed, but Isaac and Scott were both laughing. Scott was laughing loudly.

Stiles saw several other guests in the theater giving them the side-eye as he climbed the stairs and sat next to his friends. "Guys, what's so funny?"

"Dude, you just missed it. Isaac is hilarious!" Scott whisper-shouted.

He was shushed by an old lady two rows up.

"Really?" asked Stiles. 'I bet it wasn't that funny.' "What did you say?"

"You had to see this part of the movie," chuckled Isaac as Scott continued laughing.

Stiles frowned upon hearing that and went to look at the screen.

"Oh, Stiles, popcorn?" mentioned Isaac.

Stiles handed him the bucket over Scott, who was still shaking from laughter. Then he turned his attention to the screen for a second time. The movie went on for another five minutes before Isaac leaned over to Scott and whispered something Stiles could not hear. Scott's laugh was louder than the movie itself. Stiles turned to see Isaac grinning and Scott bent over in his chair cackling. That's when the flashlight hit them.

'Great,' thought Stiles as he turned around.

A man in a movie theater uniform stated clearly, "Gentlemen, I am going to have to ask you to leave now."

While the light was still shining in his eyes, Stiles stood and began to exit his row. By the time he was on the stairs, Scott and Isaac were on their way to join him, and the man in the uniform told them to follow him out the building. As they exited the theater, Scott and Isaac were still grinning. Stiles was mildly upset. While they were nearing the exit of the building, the man in the uniform gave them a speech about how they were no longer welcome into the theater and wished them a nice day as he opened the door.

Stiles stepped outside to find that it was no longer raining. That was a plus, considering they were being thrown out on the opposite side of the building from their car. Stiles checked to make sure Isaac and Scott were following him as he rounded the corner of the building toward the front entrance. Immediately as he did so, he spotted Derek standing out front. Stiles stopped.

Derek was looking at the movie times posted outside the theater and hadn't seen them. Then Scott started laughing again, louder than the last time. Stiles shushed him, but it was too late. By the time Isaac and Scott realised what was happening, Stiles turned around to see Derek's eyes directly on him.


End file.
